I was browsing some of the other WC3 forums, and I saw this post about this "GTW Mod". So I naturally check it out and see what it's about. Well, I read this rather long post about it, and must say I was rather amazed. I then went over to their forums, and was quite shocked at all the cool and amazing things I found out about the mod! I added the creator and a few other members to my msn to see if I could find out more about this exciting mod. Specifically, if it would support mod maps or not.

Well, I'll adress the above in due time, but first let me fill you guys in on what it's about =)

The mod is set 50 years before WCI, and will involve a war between forest trolls and humans. The storyline's not overly important, but it was intriguing nonetheless. The mod promises to add numerous realistic combat systems, like physics, accuracy, a shield bonus, and a bunch of other neat stuff that, according to TU16 (the lead designer), will actually have an impact on gameplay. "Modernizing WCIII" I think was how he put it, though it seems he's doing much, much more than just that. Anyways, the mod also promises a new resource system, and a few others that will have a "significant impact". Suffice to say that is sounds pretty cool, not to mention deep. Also heard the mod will have eight factions, which I thought was a bit many, but it seems TU16 knows what he's doing. Well, anyways, I continued reading this post and then scrolled down to look at the models. Astounding really! Quite good, can't wait to be commanding those =)

Well, I mentioned before that I put TU16 on my MSN. Well, he actually accepted me, and allowed me to send him a message! I initiated a dialogue with him =)

My first question was how did he plan to make each of the eight factions different? His reply was essentially that the factions will be more specialized to specific tactics, such as guerilla warfare, which he claims you'll be able to do now! The mere thought of waging guerilla warfare intrigues me quite a bit! He went on to say that the resource system would allow them to rework forests into something totally new, something more realistic, and something far more than the tree walls currently in WCIII. According to him, battles will actually take place in forests. He says that certain factions will actually WANT to battle in the forests, as they will get bonuses and such. He said this was an integral part of the guerilla portion, but he also said that the new combat systems, as well as a few other systems and special abilities for those factions well-versed in guerilla warfare will make the afformentioned warfare possible =) He also said that there will be more traditional factions as well, which will rely on more Roman or Spartan-like armies.

My next question was about the world editor, and what effect will the mod have on it. He replied that the WE would be useable, and besides from the GTW units, spells, and upgrades being in it, we might see some new trigger functions as well! That isn't the best part though, b/c he went on to explain that GTW will attempt to have every kind of popular mod map currently on Bnet! He said there would definitely be a GTW footmen wars, aos, maul, and a lot more, all very well done and with all the new features from GTW. Well, this set my mind thinking. What would footmen wars be like with physics, accuracy, evasion, shield bonuses, crawling, and all those other wonderful systems they seek to add!? Why, it would be the best footmen wars ever I tell you!

Lastly, I asked him what the large team was all about. I mean, most mod teams are relatively small, around 5-10 people, or even just a single person many times. He replied by pointing out that roughly 95% of WCIII mods begun have not been finished, and a majority of those were small teams who lost interest. He said that was not the true reason for the large team, but something worthy of my notice. He then went on to explain that GTW is not a normal mod. He said he doesn't even like to think of it as a mod, but rather thinks of it as a game. He said that really the team is much smaller than it seems, as we have many "freelancers". I of course asked what freelancers were, and he explained that they were people who did what they wanted and when they wanted. Well, how's that work? He said that GTW is a very large mod, and that there is much to do. He said the core team could accomplish a lot, but anything that the "freelancers" could get done would only help the mod be done faster. He said that every model that's already done by the time the team gets to it is not just less work for the team, but less production time for the mod as well. Well, this certainly satisfied me, as I simply can't wait to play this!

I also spoke with him a few other times later, and found out that they plan to have an alpha in 6 months where they will invite 25-50 people (I'm hoping one of them will be me!) to play the alpha version of the mod with two factions =)

He said he doesn't even like to think of it as a mod, but rather thinks of it as a game.

Aside from the fact that he didn't write any of the graphics coding, didn't make any of the game engine, and it is JUST a mod? Anyone comparing it to a game obviously has no clue what goes into making a game. (Point of interest - I do, having made a game completely from scratch; a very simple game, but it took quite a while, and had about the same amount of coding as one of my WC3 maps; that was for a 2d and very simple game)

We really don't need a new thread about this every time the old one drops off. When they have a beta to show us (which should have been months ago considering the man hours they'd have put in by now with such a large team), then make a new thread. Until then, there really isn't much point going over the same old stuff over and over, with nothing except some art and a load of pumped up claims about it being better than a commercial game.

"Put up, or shut up", in the words of a certain drunkard party leader.

EDIT: Ought to point out the vast majority of this rant is not aimed at the thread starter, but at TU16 (though this does look like a put up job to me).

Anyways, the engine may be the same, but he means that it is nothing like the game it is based off of. Though the engine's the same, you can clearly see that they're editing a lot.

Btw, as for the team size, he says many are freelancers, who basically do what they want and when they want to do it, and that will ultimately help speed things up. The core team is moving quite quickly, but the thing is MASSIVE. He said that each of the eight factions will have more units in each of them than any of the factions in WCIII: TFT. Plus, he said the quality of each model and skin will be higher than that of WCIII (512x512 instead of 256x256 for skins, and about 2x as many polies for models, at least).

From what I hear they're about ready to release some uber vids, one showing the physics system, which supposedly has 0 lag.

Anyways, he does speak the truth though. We do plan to release some videos soon, one containing the physics system.

The reason why GTW is more like a game than a mod is b/c most WCIII mods, besides from retaining a lot of WCIII models, only change the units a bit, and throw in a new campaign. None do anything like what GTW will do. We're going to essentially change the engine w/out changing the engine. It will have a feel only remniscent of WCIII. It will feel like GTW.

1) Of course it has no lag. It is impossible for a locally running thing to have 'lag', which is caused by latency.
2) Anyone saying it has no slow down is also wrong, because it will have some slowdown, just the significant thing is whether or not it is noticable.

And videos show nothing about slow downs or lag, since it is probably offline, and without most of the systems running.

The reason why GTW is more like a game than a mod is b/c most WCIII mods, besides from retaining a lot of WCIII models, only change the units a bit, and throw in a new campaign. None do anything like what GTW will do. We're going to essentially change the engine w/out changing the engine. It will have a feel only remniscent of WCIII. It will feel like GTW.

Strangely, your models and screenshots use lots of graphics that are already in the game.

So, besides making things get knocked around when they are hit, what's so groundbreaking? So far I've seen nothing that 1 JASSer can do in a few hours for any mod he wishes.